BOSTON – The Golden State Warriors won their 60th game of the season Saturday, and since the start of the season, it’s been clear that they’re one of the top teams in the league.

They’ve kept defending at an incredibly high level. They’ve transitioned smoothly and seamlessly to a new coach and coaching staff. Their top players have been phenomenal, and their role players have excelled.

And, while they’re the favorites to win the title, the race feels wide open.

You can make strong cases for multiple teams in each conference. The San Antonio Spurs, all of a sudden, look like the team that steamrolled through Miami last spring. The Atlanta Hawks have been consistently excellent all season. The Cleveland Cavaliers look great, the Chicago Bulls are getting healthy and Houston is adding Dwight Howard. Memphis, the Clippers and Portland all have shots to put together runs.

Everywhere you look, particularly in the West, a team capable of beating you is lurking.

Parity is a sign that the league’s in a great place, that the NBA doesn’t need the Knicks or the Lakers to be great (though it certainly wouldn’t hurt).

Things are good right now.

And soon, once the season is over, it’ll be on NBA commissioner Adam Silver and the rest of the league to make it better.

Stop intentional fouling

I’m not sure this is the NBA’s top priority, but as someone who has sat through multiple games where a player repeatedly has been sent to the foul line, it’s my biggest gripe.

I get that it’s strategy. And, I get that, in a perfect world, players like DeAndre Jordan would become good enough free-throw shooters, to thwart it.

It’s also currently within the rules to foul whoever you want, on or off the ball, until the final two minutes of the game.

But it’s not good for the product.

Games grind to a halt, players don’t get to showcase the skills and athleticism that draw people to the game in the first place and people in the stands get bored.

Drastic solutions, like say, eliminating free throws all together, exist, though something way more palatable would be treating intentional off-the-ball fouls like the rules do late in games – by awarding a team two shots and the ball.

Problem solved.

Fix the schedule

This is one everyone seems to agree on. The back-to-backs and four-games-in-five-nights are the worst parts of an 82-game schedule, and indirectly, they’re largely responsible for teams resting healthy players.

Like the intentional fouling, the solution here is obvious.

A shortened preseason would allow the NBA to start the year earlier and buy the schedulers enough leeway to limit the schedule quirks.

When you’re dealing with 30 teams in 29 arenas that also book concerts, circuses, NHL games and other events, some back-to-backs are unavoidable. But, the league should strive to eliminate the four-in-five, players’ least favorite part of the regular season.

Stop rewarding losing

This isn’t a new problem, but the line between rebuilding and tanking is getting blurrier and blurrier.

With Philadelphia, that’s certainly the case, as the team’s bid to acquire as many assets as possible has made it easier to shut down their last two top picks for the entire season. Nerlens Noel, the team’s choice two years ago, has blossomed and looks like he could be a long-term force in the NBA.

The Knicks, on the other hand, were trying to be good this year. It was clear pretty early that they wouldn’t be, and because of trades and injuries, they’ve become the most unwatchable team in the NBA.

And for all of that, they’ll get rewarded with a better chance at the No. 1 overall pick than anyone else in the league.

Like the fouling, like the resting of players, it’s a valid strategy, but how is it good for the NBA?

There isn’t as easy of a fix here, but Silver and the league need to consider all options.

The NBA is healthy, but there’s no reason the league shouldn’t strive to be healthier.

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